Use the Metadata Versions dialog box when you want to select two or more versions of the questionnaire definition (.mdd) file. You open this dialog box by selecting Multiple Versions in the Version list in the Data Link Properties: Metadata Properties dialog box.

The order in which you select the versions controls the order of precedence that will generally be used when there is a conflict between the versions. For example, if a category label differs in the versions you select, the text in the version with the higher precedence will be used. However the order of questions and categories is always taken from the most recent version and there is special handling of changes to loop definition ranges and the minimum and maximum values of variables, similar to that described for the Metadata Model Version Utility in The master version in a merge operation.

If you want the most recent version to take precedence, start selecting the versions at the top and work down the list. If you want the oldest version to take precedence, start at the bottom and work up the list.

You can select individual or multiple versions by pressing Ctrl or Shift while you click, provided the mouse is in the Description or Date/Time Locked column. You can then click in the Version column to select or deselect the check boxes for all of the versions that you have selected.

For each version, the following information is shown:

The version name. Version names are made up of a combination of the major version and minor version numbers in the form Major#:Minor#, where Major# is the number of the major version and Minor# is the number of the minor version. Changes in the major version number indicate that the structure of the case data has changed (for example, variables or categories have been added or deleted) whereas changes in the minor version number indicate that the changes affect the metadata only (for example, a question text has been changed). Version names are created automatically when a version is locked. A version that has not been locked is always called LATEST.

The ID of the user who created the version.

The date and time at which the version was locked.

When present, this is a text that gives information about the version.

Displays an expression that represents the selection you have chosen. You can select the versions you want to use by typing an expression in this box. The order of precedence is taken from the order in which versions are specified, with the rightmost versions taking precedence over the leftmost.

You can specify a combination of individual versions, and ranges to include or exclude. For example, the following specifies version 3:2 and all versions from 4:5 to 7:3 with the exception of versions 7 through 7:2:

For more information, see Version expressions.